Sounding apparatus.



718,006. PATBNTED JAN. 6, 1903:

J. F. LEWIS.

SOUNDING APPARATUS.

l APPLICATION IILED JULY 19 1002. N0 MODEL.

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f y /g NITED STATES PATENTr FFICE.

JOHN F.` LEWIS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SOUNDING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 718,006, dated January6, 1903.

Application led July 19, 1902. Serial No. 116|233. (No model.)

T0 all whom, may concern:

Beit known that I, JOHN F. LEWIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a cgi-tain new and useful Improvement inSounding Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a sounding apparatus which is designed to beattached to the end of a line and lowered `into the water, and thisdevice carries a dial which indicates'the depth to which the device hasbeen lowered irrespective of the inclination of the line, saidindication being derived from the pressure of the water due to the depthto which the apparatus is lowered; and the object of thisinvention is tosimplify the construction of said devices and provide an apparatus whichcan be relied upon to give anaccurate indication of the depth, and alsoprovides a simple mechanism for trapping the water within the device, sothat the hand ofthe dial will be held at the highest point registereduntil the de` vice is raised from the water and can be read.

With theseends in view this invention consists in the details ofAconstruction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and thenspecifically designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this inventionappertains may understand how to make and use the same, the constructionand operation will now be described' in detail, referring to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of. this specification,l in which-Figure l. represents a side elevation of my device; Fig. 2, alongitudinal section through the same; Fig. 3, a cross-section on theline 3 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 1, a cross-section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

In the drawings, A represents the body, which is of tubular form open atboth ends. The lower end of the bodyAis provided with a male thread,andV B represents the lower end of the apparatus, which is threaded uponthis lower end of the body. This lower end ofthe apparatus is madesufficiently heavy to give enough weight to the sounding device to causethe same to sink rapidly and is provided with a central cavity C,extending from the top to a point near the bottom, where the cavity Ccommunicates with the exterior through a series of lateral openings D.

E is a cylinder of fine wire-gauze suspendd ed in the cavity C by meansof an exteriorlythreaded collar F, secured to the upper end of the gauzecylinder E and threaded into the upper end of the cavity C. Thus anywaterentering through the openingD will necessarily have to pass throughthe gauze cylinder E to reach the interior of the apparatus, and thewater is thus strained and any large particles areprevented fromentering the device.

Gr is a washer, of. leather, rubber, or other suitable material, whichis clamped in place by the parts A and B. This washer G is cut through,as indicated at H, in a part of a circle, so as to leave a central flapI, which acts as a valve. This central ap I is reinforced upon each sideby metallic plates, as represented at J, and iscontacted upon its lowerface by the upper end of the part B, so that it cannot open downward,but is free to open upward into the tubular part A.

At the opposite or upper end of the partA is arranged an ordinarypressure-gage K, which is arranged with its dial or face pointingupward, and the casing K', which surrounds the gage, is extended aboveand below the gage and interiorly threaded. The upper end of the tubularportion Ais threaded in the lower end of the casing K', and suitablepacking L is interposed between the gage and the part A. Above the dialof the gage is placed a very heavy glass disk M, and into the upper endof the casing K' is threaded a hollow cap N, and suitable packing O isinterposed between the lower rim of this cap and the glass disk M. Thiscap has a series of openings P formed through the dome of the same forthe purpose of reading the dial of the gage K, and formed with the upperend of the cap is an eyelet Q, to which the line is adapted to beattached.

The operation of the device is as follows: As the device is lowered inthe water the pressure of the water will cause the same to rush inwardthrough the openings D and passing through the gauze cylinder E willraise the Iiap I and enter the tubular portion A, com- ICO pressing theair contained in said tubular portion, and said air acting upon thepressuregage K will thus operate the hand upon the dial so as toindicate this pressure; but the dial being so graduated as to representso many feet for so much pressure will instead of recording the pressurerecord the depth to which the device has been lowered, and it is obviousthat the greater the depth the device is lowered the greater will be thepressure of the water. Therefore more water will rush into the tubularpart A and compress the air to a greater extent. When the device is heldat a standstill or is raised, the flap I will act as a check-valve andinstantly close, and thus trap the water which has previously enteredinto the tubular portion A. This will hold the pressure, andconsequently hold the hand of the dial at the greatest depth registered.The device can then be raised and the dial read at leisure. Then bysimply unscrewing the portion B the water contained in the parts may beemptied out, and by replacing the part B the apparatus is in conditionagain for use.

I am aware that other devices for similar purposes have been invented;butin all such devices of which I am aware the mechanism is more or lesscomplicated, and the hand of the dial is held in position by mechanicalmeans and not by reason of the water being trapped within the device.

The advantage of my invention is that while being extremely simple andcomposed of comparatively few parts the same is eX- tremely accurate andeflicient in action and exceeding durable.

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact construction hereshown, as slight modiications could be made without departing from thespirit ot' my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and usefulis l. In a sounding apparatus, a body, a pressure-gage hermeticallysealed in the upper end of the body, a plurality of openings enteringthe body at the lower end from opposite sides, a chamber located in thebody underneath the pressure-gage and communicating therewith, acheck-valve interposed between said chamber and the openings in thelower end of the body, as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a sounding apparatus, a body, a pressure-gage hermetically securedin the upper end of said body, the dial of said gage being l exposed toview, a plurality of openings opening into the body near the lower endthereof from opposite sides, a check-valve arranged within the body andabove the lower openings, the opening through said valve being largerthan the openings through the lower end of the body, a chamber arrangedabove the check-valve, said chamber being considerably larger than theopening through the valve, said chamber communicating with the press ure-gage,as and for the purpose specified. 3. In a device of thecharacter described, a tubular body, a pressure-gage, a casingsurrounding said pressure-gage and threaded upon said tubular body atits lower end, suitable packing interposed between said gage and body,the dial of the pressure-gage facing upward, a glass disk covering thedial of the pressure-gage, a cap threaded in the upper end ot' thecasing, suitable packing interposed between the cap and the glass disk,said cap provided with openings formed through the same for the readingof the dial, an eyelet formed upon the upper end of the cap to which theline is adapted to be secured, a weighted end portion threaded upon thelower end of the tubular portion, said end portion provided with acavity opening upward and extending to a point near the bottom, said endportion provided with lateral openings extending from the cavity to theexterior, a gauze cylinder, an exteriorly-threaded collar surroundingits upper end, said collar being threaded in the 'upper end of thecavity, a flap-valve arranged above the cavity adapted to open to allowthe entrance of the water in the tubular portion but to prevent anyescape of the same, as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN F. LEWIS. Witnesses:

L. D. HEINRIcHs, L. W. MORRISON.

